Report Reveals Education Helps, But Intimacy Problems Remain

EDITORIAL

Despite a sexual revolution and a national obsession with the subject, many Americans aren't enjoying sex.

More than 40 percent of women and 30 percent of men said they lacked sexual desire or reported other intimacy problems in a study published in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association.

While more analysis is needed, two observations stand out:

Education and long-term commitment seem to contribute to a healthy libido, according to the study being called the most comprehensive national sex survey since the 1948 Kinsey Report.

People who were educated or married reported fewer sexual problems than others surveyed. The findings are based on a 1992 study by the University of Chicago, which questioned 1,749 women and 1,410 men between ages 18 and 59.

The report suggested education contributes to fewer problems. Parents should talk to their children, and teachers should talk to their students about sex in a way that is appropriate for each age group.

The other lesson shouldn't be a surprise. A good marriage should foster good sex. Commitment and caring -- the things that go on outside the bedroom -- positively impact what goes on inside the bedroom. Whether married or single, good sex cannot be divorced from love and a sense of duty.

This study should invite more studies and discussion. Cultural attitudes toward sex need to be explored. The study has Hispanics reporting fewer sexual problems for unexplained reasons.

The study also is an invitation to deal with sex responsibly and openly.

There's more sex on television and other media, where it is too often associated with violence and power. Even American political life has been consumed by this subject.

But few television shows or movies portray sex as acts of love and nurturing.

And there's too little public discussion about the duties and dangers that go along with it.